Targets Are Closing In SF, Oakland And Pittsburg… What Does That Mean For Each City?

Target is a perfectly fine place. I don’t have anything against Target or the people who shop there. I like their dog mascot with the red circle around its eye. I think it’s cute. And who doesn’t remember the “Blue Light Special?” Was that Target? I think it was. I’m honestly not very sure. Either way, if you think the closure of a Target is a big deal, you’re kind of silly. 

I’ve actually shopped at every single Target that is reported to close in the Bay Area. You know why? Because I’m bad luck. If you see me walking into your corporate chain store to purchase some shit, just know you have a year left, tops. 

Retail is fundamentally changing. Online shopping has pushed brick and mortar business to the edges of irrelevance, and we have to keep in mind that Target is a publicly traded company. If they were to admit their business model is outdated and on the verge of collapse, their stocks would be in freefall. Placing the blame on crime rather than an inability to innovate or reinvent themselves with their ICP (not Insane Clown Posse, Ideal Customer Profile) is much more palatable to investors.

I used to live next to the Target on Folsom Street and that vibes were off. The armed guards in the store and the encampment along 13th Street along the border between SoMa and the Mission District created a tense environment. Unhoused people were barely even allowed to walk into the store without being confronted by security. It was a fairly contentious place to shop. 

I’ve also been to the Downtown Oakland Target on Broadway. I can tell you that I sincerely doubt this one closed due to crime. It was always fucking empty. When people in Oakland or Berkeley want to get their suburban shopping done, they go to one of two places: Emeryville or Walnut Creek. Maybe people were stealing, but I’ve been there a number of times and the place was practically empty. I have a suspicion that big box retailers are closing because business isn’t what it used to be and instead of admitting failure, they’re blaming crime. In the case of SF’s Folsom location, I could see it, but I doubt that crime was the main problem at the Oakland location. No one was ever fucking there.

Then there’s Pittsburg. Pittsburg is the only city I feel bad for. SF and Oakland are surrounded by places to shop, so when journalists sensationalize a business closing as further proof San Francisco or the Bay Area are headed for the obituaries, I roll my eyes. But Pittsburg is different. East Contra Costa is actually underserved, and Pittsburg has slums in it that match the level of poverty seen in places like SF or Oakland, but no one seems to care because it’s at the end of the BART line. 

Pittsburg is a suburb, and suburbs need shit like Target to survive. I’m not being facetious. The Target in question existed in a strip mall along the border with Antioch’s Sycamore Corridor, which is the poorest part of the city and one of the most isolated places in the Bay Area. The closing of Target there actually creates a food desert for East Pittsburg and West Antioch residents, and should be taken seriously. 

But to insinuate that SF or Oakland’s urban vibrancy depends on the success of a Target location is complete and utter bullshit. Things aren’t all bad either. There’s a Lucky grocery store in the Bayview. Bayview/ Hunters Point has never had a grocery store to my understanding until now. 

Why doesn’t the national news ever report on stories like that?

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